1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shower device for use in a bathroom or a shower booth, capable of automatic reciprocating action for repetitively changing the water sprinkle direction of the shower, and a shower booth.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are growing needs for shower devices intended for relaxation, beauty/health enhancement and the like. In an approach for this application, for example, swirling flow or the like is used to modulate water flow at a relatively fast rate of several tens of hertz or more for enhancing massage effect and the like. On the other hand, the water sprinkle position and water sprinkle direction of a shower nozzle or the like can be repetitively changed at a relatively slow rate of several hertz or less, for example, to uniformly spray water onto a prescribed area of a human body for enhancing relaxation effect and the like.
Electrically-operated means such as a motor or solenoid can also be used for reciprocating action. However, for installing such means into a system for discharging water in a bathroom or the like, it is necessary to ensure power supply and to take measures against electric shock and leakage and the like. There are also many problems to be solved with regard to cost and reliability.
In this respect, if reciprocating action can be achieved hydraulically, the need for electricity, lubricating oil and the like is eliminated, and improvement can be expected in many aspects such as initial cost, running cost, reliability, and maintainability.
A shower device capable of vertical reciprocating action is disclosed (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HO 2-134119A), where a piston is combined with a four-way valve. In this shower device, a piston provided in a cylinder is moved vertically by hydraulic pressure, and a shower head is moved vertically through a wire. The vertical motion of the piston is switched by switching the water supply channel to the cylinder using the four-way valve.
It can be said that a driving device using water pressure from combination of a cylinder like this and a piston can attain directly driving force with a low speed and a high power as motion of the piston, compared with a driving device obtaining driving force by rotating a water mill with a high speed, and is suitable for use as the shower device which needs a stable motion as naked humans touches directly. That is, if considering about a usage pattern, as the device is set so as to be directly touchable for a user, rigidity is needed for the shower head itself not so as to break when the user collides with the shower head accidentally, and high driving force is needed for move the shower head. Furthermore, the low speed is preferred to get a comfortable feeling of use of the shower. The water pressure driving device from combination of the cylinder and the piston can transmit the high driving force to the shower head and can easily drive the shower head with the low speed, compared with the water pressure driving device using the water mill.
However, in the case of this shower device, as the shower head is moved vertically, a long distance for moving the shower head is necessary to discharge water in a broad area. As a result, an area being possible for the shower head to exist broadens and there is a problem of resulting in a design impairment when setting the shower device in the limited space such as a bathroom and a shower booth.
This invention has been made in consideration of these problems. An object of the invention is to provide a shower device and a shower booth having a compact and simple structure, a reduced area being possible for the shower head to exist in spite of keeping capability of discharging water in the broad area, and improved design.